Archive of Our Own

"Let me see, let me see." Lance had dropped to a knee in front of Hunk and was inspecting the armor around his friend's calf. Hunk hissed as Lance turned his leg one way and then the other.

"Sorry," Lance mumbled. He bit his lip and stared at the injury. Nothing was broken, but the blast had done a lot of damage.

They had been fighting on the ground, but things had gone south after they got separated from the rest of their team. Hunk got caught up in a small explosion and then it was all Lance could do to get him away from the battle; find a safe place.

Before the comlink cut out, Coran had been shouting something about a trap.

While Lance didn't understand what had happened exactly, he assumed the Galra had found a way to jam their coms.

They were separated and without a way to contact the rest of the team. Lance wanted to say he was relieved that the Galra forces had begun to retreat, but he knew something was wrong.

As he supported Hunk across the planet's rocky ground, he became aware of how quiet it had become. Like the world was holding its breath.

They found a little cave at the base of one of the looming mountains that was just big enough for the two of them to sit in.

Hunk needed to rest.

He needed a pod.

"You're okay," Lance forced out around the bile building in his throat. Hunk sighed and grimaced.

"You're bleeding, Lance."

Lance blinked. Was he?

"Your head. You took a shot to the head. It's a good thing it wasn't a more powerful gun."

Lance had a distant memory of something hitting him, snapping his neck to the side, but he was still fighting and, if he was still alive, then it couldn't have been that bad. He had ignored it. He had needed to get to Hunk, he'd needed to help him.

Lance removed his helmet, a jolt of pain and a smear of red informing him that it wasn't only sweat making his hair stick to his face.

Lance felt his nausea increase and his head may have spun a bit.

He didn't have time for this. Hunk was hurt. They needed a pick up. He needed the coms to come back. Though, if he had to guess, going by the look of his helmet, he may not be able to receive communications through it anyway.

"Let me see?" Hunk was holding out his hand. Lance handed him the helmet, without further thought. "I meant your head injury, but, sure, this too."

"Oh," Lance turned his head to the side and leaned in. Hunk reached and gently tilted his friend's face towards the light.  "It doesn't look too bad. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Hunk, you're the one that can barely walk!"

Lance went back to uselessly studying his friend's leg. It looked like it really hurt and Hunk was just acting like it was nothing.

"I need a distraction." Hunk was studying Lance's helmet. "It's not so bad if I don't move it."

Hunk pulled out a little tool from some of the plating on his arm. He began poking at the cracked casing, trying to get at the fine wires.

"I could probably get this working again. It's not going to help much if they're jamming us though."

Right. Lance needed to actually do something.

"Yeah, how do you think they're doing that?"

"Seems like something short range. Probably only works on the ground. We got drawn into it, I guess."

"Yeah," Lance was fighting to keep his voice calm. As if they were just talking about what they were having for breakfast or what they would be doing in training later. Short range, on the ground...

"We could go up the mountain. Maybe we would get a signal. The others probably made it back to the lions. They could come pick us up."

Hunk hesitated. He bit his lip.

"You'd have to go up alone."

"What? No, I can help you walk."

Hunk didn't say anything. He just continued working. Eventually, he brought out a second small tool. Lance had never bothered to learn their names.

"It will be faster," Hunk chose his words carefully, "if you go up without me. The faster you get a signal out, the faster we get picked up."

"Well, I can't pick up a signal with that anyway." Lance motioned towards Hunk’s hands as he pulled out some delicate wires. Hunk sighed. He put his tools in one hand and balanced the helmet on his good knee. He pulled off his own helmet and handed it to Lance.

"Use mine. I don't think our armor is as picky as our lions. It should work."

Lance took the offered item, though he was shaking his head.

"I can't just leave you here. What if the Galra attack?"

"I still have my bayard. Besides, they're more likely to attack you. You'll be out in the open. Maybe keep your head down, okay?"

Lance sighed. He didn't like it at all.

Lance had been walking for about an eternity, intermittently checking the comlink to see if he could get through. Each time he was met with a soft static.

He walked up the mountain, slowly ascending higher. Every time his path started to level off, he would think he was approaching the top, only to look and see more mountain rising in front of him.

At the beginning of the journey, he had darted from one rock to another, being stealthy. However, as time went on and he met no one, he focused only on climbing higher.

He kicked on his jet pack a few times to clear a few higher ledges, but he worried about the noise echoing through the range.

Lance stared up at the cloud coverage as he trudged along. He couldn't see the sky and he had no idea if there were ships hidden from his view. He wondered if he could have seen the fighting in the upper atmosphere if the clouds cleared.

He hoped everyone was okay.

"Anyone copy?"

Static. A clicking sound.

"Is anyone there?"

Lance sighed as static filled his ears again. Maybe he should just go back to Hunk-

"Lance? Are you there?"

"Pidge!" Lance stumbled in his surprise. He stared up at the sky as if the green lion was about to emerge. "I'm here! I'm right here. What's going on?"

There was a lot of quick talk about signals being jammed and frequencies and the fighting growing worse in space.

"We've been looking for you. You just appeared on Coran's scans. Is Hunk with you?"

"We couldn't get a signal, so I walked up the mountain." Lance bit his lip. "Hunk's hurt. He couldn't do the hike."

There was a long pause of silence.

"Shiro..." Pidge muttered, but then there was a click and Lance wondered if she had switched to a private channel.

"Hello?" Lance felt a pull of fear in his gut. Something wasn’t right.

"Lance." Shiro's voice came loudly through the com. It made Lance jump.

"Yeah?" Lance tried to sound calm.

"Listen to me."

Uh-oh.

"Stay right there. I'm going to pick you up."

"Hunk's down the mountain." Lance's feet were already turning back.

"Pidge is going to try and disable their tech so we can get a read on him. But we're going to get you out first."

"The Black lion can get to him. I can tell you where he is. I-"

"Lance."

No.

"Lance, listen. In a few ticks there are going to be Galra bombers breaking through the atmosphere. They know we didn't all make it back to the lions. They know some of the Paladins were left behind."

"Shiro..."

"There’s going to be an air raid."

Something dark moved in the distance, parting the clouds.

"There's no time, Lance."

Dropping below the clouds now, Lance recognized the ships. He'd seen them before in space and on planets, sailing over his head. Fast, deadly, destructive.

He'd never seen so many before.

"I'm coming now. Just stay there."

Lance exhaled.

The bombs started dropping from the ships simultaneously. The ground in the distance lit up in a fiery, calculated line. He could hear the distant rumbling; he thought he could feel the vibrations beneath his feet as the ground was shaken.

Lance ran forward.

"Lance, wait-"

The comlink cut off abruptly.

The bombers moved quickly.

Lance hadn't made it down the mountain before they were over his head.

He was rocked by explosions. He ducked behind boulders to try to avoid the worst of it. But the world around him was going to pieces.

Smoke clouded his vision, debris pelted him like rain. Lance wasn't even sure if he was headed the right way anymore.

As long as he was going down the mountain, he should be able to make it, he should be able to find Hunk. Just keep going, keep running, keep-

His feet met air and he was tumbling through nothingness before he collided with the ground.

He rolled. An explosion went off and the ground itself tossed him into the air. He could hear the world thundering around him, filling his ears with a cacophony and his body with pain.

Everything went dark all at once.

Hunk could fix just about anything. His mom had been impressed and grateful for his help whenever an appliance stopped working. Hunk could always get it to function again. At the Garrison, he'd proven himself to be handy and useful. Maybe not so much during the flight simulations, but everyone knew Hunk was smart. Nothing stayed broken for long, if he was around.

And if he had turned his interests towards the medical field, he could probably have done something about the blood dripping from his leg.

He watched it pool under his heel and he wondered if he should take the armor off. Though, at this point, the armor was probably providing necessary support for his leg. Hunk shifted his attention back to Lance's helmet. It was better to try and keep himself busy. Focus on what he was good at. If he got this fixed, he could talk to his team.

If they had eliminated the jamming problem...

Even if they hadn't, maybe Hunk could find a way to boost or alter his own signal. There had to be a way to get a message out.

Lance had been gone for a long time, he'd probably be back soon. Hunk didn't want to face him empty handed.

He carefully moved wires about. He just needed to reattach this one here and...

A static noise filled the small cave and Hunk smiled.

Now if he could just find a way to broadcast at a different frequency...

There was a sound like distant thunder in the distance. Hunk briefly hoped the weather wasn't about to turn bad, before he set to work again.

The thunder continued. Growing louder, consistent.

Engines.

Hunk pushed himself up, trying not to put any weight on his leg. He'd almost been able to block out how much it was hurting, but now there were sharp spikes of pain. Hunk grit his teeth. He set the helmet down on a rock and steadied himself against the wall with both hands.

Carefully, he eased his way out of their small hiding spot. He cautiously glanced around, but there wasn't anything that he could see. Just rocks and scraggly grass.

Hunk risked a few more steps out. He found himself glancing up the mountain, looking for any sign of Lance's return.

The noise grew louder. Hunk turned back to the valley where their last battle had taken place. It was weird how all the Galra soldiers had evacuated the area, instead of searching for the Paladins that were still stranded on the ground. It was weird how loud that engine noise was getting.

Hunk blinked and looked up.

There were ships breaking through the cloud cover, moving fast in a long line, stretched out across the valley. He'd seen their design before.

Bombers.

More than he'd ever seen.

Hunk was dumbfounded up until the first wave of bombs hit the ground. Rocks, grass and the bodies of fallen soldiers all were blown away by the force it.

Hunk stumbled backwards, his leg not cooperating, he started to go to the cave, but it was too small. He needed better cover. It wasn't going to do anything against this attack. He needed to run. The ground was shaking, the dying grass had lit on fire, he could smell it burning.

Hunk ran up the mountain, more in a panic than with an actual plan in mind. His leg screamed and he ignored it. He knew his adrenaline would kick in. He knew he could run from this. He could escape, find a way out.

Clouds of dirt blocked his vision and his world shook around him. He couldn't see where he was going, he couldn't-

The blast drowned out everything else. Amongst the pain and the fear he realized he had left the helmet behind. A mistake.

Hunk's world went dark.

Lance awoke with a gasp.

He hadn't been blacked out for long. The dust hadn't settled. The ground was still shaking underneath him, tremoring from waves of explosions. His ears were ringing and he tasted blood. He hoped he had just bit his cheek and it wasn't a sign of internal damage.

He heaved himself up to his feet. It didn't matter how much everything hurt and protested. Hunk was still out there. He needed to get to him.

The ground shook less, the dust was clearing. The bombers had moved on along their path of destruction. Lance stumbled forward, leaning heavily on the rocks around him. He shook his head, realized that was a mistake when his stomach flipped from the action. Taking a slow, deep breath, he forced one foot in front of the other.

He had to get to Hunk. He had to.

"Lance! Stay there!"

Lance startled at Shiro's voice in his ear. He realized there was a different kind of rumbling filling the air and he looked up to see the Black lion descending quickly. His team had found a way to get communications up. That was good. If Hunk had got the helmet working, they should be able to talk to him.

"Hunk?" Lance tried for a private channel. He was met with silence.  

Shiro was running towards him, his arms stretched outwards. Lance didn't understand why Shiro was doing that until he was collapsing forward. Shiro caught him.

"You're alright, you're alright." Shiro started to drag him back to the waiting lion. "We don't have any time. The bombers are coming back."

"Hunk's down the mountain." Lance was struggling to find his feet. "Gotta pick him up."

Shiro didn't say anything.  It was too long of a pause. Something wasn't right.

"Did you find Hunk?" Lance didn't mean to start struggling, but he needed to know.

"We can't get a read on him."

Away from the ship, the armor worked as a tracker, letting them find each other. It would also send back basic vitals to the ship, temperature, heart rate...

But if they couldn't get a read on him...

What did that mean?

Lance twisted with surprising force out of Shiro's hold. He turned away from the Black lion, scrambling to continue down the mountain.

"Lance! Come on!" Shiro grabbed his shoulders, hauled him back.

"I gotta get Hunk!"

"Lance!" Shiro wrapped his arm around him, dragged him backwards, towards his lion, away from Hunk. "We have to go! There's no time! Keith can't hold them off any longer!"

Lance's heels left small trenches in the ground as he was bodily dragged. Too slowly he had realized what Shiro was doing.

"I can't leave him!" Lance became dead weight, but Shiro walked on.

Lance fought his hold. He kicked and punched and screamed.

"I can get him! Let me go! Let me go!" Lance hadn't known this kind of panic existed. "Please, Shiro. Please." Lance's feet dragged across the metal of the lion's ramp.

"I'm not losing you both." Shiro finally spoke as he deposited Lance on the cockpit floor. Lance was momentarily stunned by the roughness in his leader's voice; scared by the grief in Shiro's eyes.

Lance opened his mouth to argue and beg. They could still do something, Lance could still do something. Lance could save his best friend.

Lance let out a short wail before he dissolved into tears.

Crying too hard to speak.

Hunk awoke coughing with a sharp ringing in his ears. He didn't know where he was. What had happened?

Stranded on a planet. 

No way to communicate.

No protective helmet.

His head pulsed with pain. He brushed shaking fingers along the side of his face. There was red streaked across his gloves. 

He tried to wipe the tackiness from his face; tried to find its source. A sharp pain had him curled up on his side, heaving. 

This wasn't good. He needed to find a safe place.

He needed to find Lance. 

Those bombers were dangerous. Lance could be hurt somewhere. Hunk forced himself into a sitting position. He groaned as he leveraged himself to standing. The ringing was fading now and Hunk was surprised by how quiet it was. He couldn't have been out for long, the dust hadn't even settled yet from the explosions. 

Limping heavily, Hunk took a few painful steps up the slope. He looked down and saw the damage to the armor. It looked trashed, it wasn't even lighting up anymore. Hunk struggled forward, breathing hard. He needed to find Lance, he needed to-

Something was in the sky above his head and Hunk ducked at the shadow that moved past him. He hadn't heard the engines of the bombers. 

Wait, that wasn't any Galra ship. It was the Black lion. Hunk put up his arm, trying to make himself seen. But Black was moving fast, already disappearing into the clouds. 

Hunk stared in disbelief. Alright, they didn't see you. Stay calm. They'll be back. They just probably got distracted. That's fine. 

Hunk turned slowly, blinking, trying to focus. If he continued up the mountain, they would see him when they came back. He dug his foot into the rocky ground.

He just needed to-

Wait.

Hunk kicked the stones at his feet. He sent them tumbling down the incline. The ringing had gone away now, but it was replaced with... nothing.

"Oh," Hunk said, his voice not reaching his own ears. "Oh!" Hunk repeated, trying to puzzle out how he felt the vibration of the sound being created by his vocal chords, but his ears weren’t picking it up.

It's probably temporary. A pod will fix it. Just move forward. 

Unfortunately, moving forward wasn't easy. He'd been trying not to think about it, but his leg was hurting and really everything was hurting. Moving was agony.

Just one foot at a time. Alright. It's okay. 

He was so focused on walking that he didn't notice the way the ground tremored slightly under him. He didn't notice the bombers until their shadows were being cast around him and when he looked up, he only had enough time to duck next to a boulder before the explosions started going off.

He couldn't hear them exactly, but he felt them. The rock shuddered and Hunk thought it might blast apart at any moment. 

He may have been speaking under his breath, just nonsense begging for it to stop, but he couldn't be sure. The silence had taken on a high pitched tone instead and it drowned out everything else. 

Hunk opened his eyes briefly and realized the boulder didn't sit flat against the ground. There was an opening under the stone, like a small cave. Maybe he could fit under there. It wasn't perfect, but it was all he had. 

Hunk dug at the loose rocks, widening the entrance. The ground behind him gave a violent shake and he shoved himself down, forcing his way through the gap.

He had probably screamed, but he wasn't sure anymore.

He dropped a few feet and he realized he had, indeed, found a small cave. He covered his head with his hands and waited for the world around him to stop shaking so badly. The boulder shuddered. Debris fell down from the cave's entrance. Hunk pressed himself against the dirt wall. A whine escaped his throat. He wasn't going to start crying. It didn't matter how the world shook or how much pain he was in. He had to hold it together. 

After several minutes, the shaking subsided. Hunk coughed hard and tried to slow his heart down. 

Deep breaths. It's okay.

Blinking, Hunk looked up, taking in his improvised bunker. It was a lot bigger than he originally thought. He could sit up and there was enough room for- a flash of bright, yellow eyes in the dark- a giant, lizard creature on the other side of the cave.

Hunk choked and put his hands up defensively. However, besides from a glare, the huge reptile didn't make a move. Which was probably good because it was big enough to bite Hunk's head off.

"Hiding out too?" Hunk whispered in the dark, unsure if the words were making it out. The lizard responded by lowering its head down to the ground. It seemed to decide that Hunk wasn't a threat. Hunk glanced up at the opening and then back. Well, it was Galra bombers or giant, alien, lizard monster. Guess he would have to go with lizard monster for now. 

There was enough space between them that Hunk hoped he would be able to react if the thing started to attack. But then he would have to be watching carefully, because he couldn't actually hear it moving around. Seeing wasn't easy either in the dark like this. 

Light.

Hunk needed to get the light working on his suit. It was something to keep himself occupied at least. He knew the armor also had a tracker in it, so he should probably check that too.

Moving slowly, Hunk pulled off his chest plate and then got out his emergency tools. After each movement he looked up to see if he was disturbing the cave’s other occupant, but the lizard did nothing but watch him closely. 

Hunk set to work, trying to pretend that the inability to hear his tools clinking together didn't bother him. 

He focused on the lighting first. Honestly, it just needed some wires to be rerouted. It would only take a few minutes. He caught his tongue between his teeth as he focused. This was good, he could fix this.

That should do it.

Hunk touched the armor with an open palm and watched as it flickered to life. 

He sighed. One problem down.

With the new light, he looked up to find four smaller sets of eyes staring at him. 

"Oh."

Four lizards, the size of small dogs, were peeking out from behind the bigger one. They were all a reddish brown color, matching their mother perfectly. 

Hunk assumed ‘mother’ was the right term; she certainly seemed to be protecting them.

He was incredible grateful she hadn't bitten his head off now. Most animals would have, if something like him had lumbered into their home. 

Hunk felt a little lightheaded and he looked down at his leg. It had gone a bit numb at this point. Maybe she sensed that he was too injured to be a threat or maybe she thought he was going to probably die and it would be a nice, easy meal for her and her brood.

Don't think about that.

Hunk set to work, trying to see if his tracker was functioning. 

Of course none of this matters if they're still jamming our signals. And I don't have the helmet anymore to work on getting a message out. 

Hunk frowned deeply. 

Tracker first. Then worry about everything else. 

Hunk worked until his vision began to blur. There was a coldness in his hands that was growing hard to ignore.

Fix things. It's what you're good at.

Hunk jumped when he realized he had a small lizard inching up his uninjured leg. It tilted its head one way and then the other, examining the light coming from Hunk's armor. 

"Please don't eat me," Hunk tried to say, though he was sure the words weren't coming out right. He was probably slurring something terrible. It felt like he was slurring. "I mean- I'm probably delicious, but just please don't."

The lizard bobbed its head and Hunk wondered if it was making a noise or not. It then hunkered down against his knee and shut its eyes, looking content. 

"Okay," Hunk mumbled. "Okay."

"Lance, I need you to try and listen, okay?"

Lance took a shuddering breath and made what he hoped was an affirmative noise.

"Brace yourself." Shiro made a sharp turn and Lance shot his feet out to keep from sliding across the cockpit.

There was a battle raging. As soon as Lance had become less hysterical, he had realized the fight was still going on and that it wasn't going well.

"Pidge got hurt when she took out the tech that was jamming us. It's just Keith and me still up."

Shiro paused to maneuver Black out of the way of enemy fire. 

"She's going to be okay, but if we're going to keep fighting, we need the Blue lion. I don't want to ask that you fight, I know you're hurt, but if you don't, we're going to have to retreat."

If Lance couldn't pull it together, they would have to leave the planet, leave Hunk.

"Hunk he…" Lance choked out. 

"I don't know, Lance. Okay? I honestly don't know. We got a brief reading on him, but it... stopped after the first wave of bombers went through."

Shiro thought he was gone, he thought they were- what? Fighting this fight so they could go look for Hunk's body- his corpse afterwards?

"The armor could be damaged. That happened to me before. Remember? Scared everyone." Lance's voice was only a whisper; he'd worn himself out from screaming earlier. 

Shiro's mouth twitched, but he remained silent.

"Shiro, it could just be damaged armor."

"Lance..." Shiro sighed. "Yes, it could be."

"I can fight." Lance wished the words sounded stronger. "I can still fight."

Shiro nodded, he quickly moved towards the castle to where Blue was waiting. 

I can still save him.

Hunk hadn't felt the ground shake in ages. It was probably a good sign. He wished he could hear whether or not there were ships passing by on patrol. He wasn't sure that his tracker was working. He had tried to fix it. But everything was damaged and blurring together. His chest hurt and his leg still hurt and his fingers weren't cooperating. 

He needed to get Lance's helmet back. If it wasn't too damaged, if his teammates had fixed the jamming problem, if they were still close by...

If, if, if…

Hunk sighed loudly. It didn't matter how impossible it looked. He needed to try.

He was waiting for a good moment to drag himself out of the burrow. The little lizards had all eventually come over, and they were draped across his legs and lap. 

He figured they were stealing the bit of warmth he offered. At least they weren't attacking him. Their mother really wasn't too concerned with their guest; she had judged him as basically helpless and non-threatening. Still, she watched him carefully.

Hunk felt like he could just drift to sleep if he let himself. 

Nope. Can't do that.

Hunk shook his head and forced himself to move. He disrupted several of his new lizard friends, but he apologized and pushed himself up, into the light.

He stopped and waited, trying to listen, knowing it was futile. There was only silence. Hunk searched the skies, but he saw nothing.

He groaned and pulled his leg up. He hissed as it was jostled painfully. 

Keep moving, keep moving.

Hunk was sweating by the time he was out and he felt like he wouldn't be able to stand, much less walk down the mountain. 

Groaning, he hoisted himself to a sitting and then a standing position. He thought he may have been swearing under his breath.

Okay, okay. One step at a time.

Pain, pain, pain.

Hunk bit his lip. 

Ignore it.

He shut his eyes, tried to refocus, but the silence and darkness was disorienting and he felt his heart speed up in a panic. 

Steeling himself, he walked. Shadows moved in the corners of his eye and he jolted in surprise. He scanned the sky, looking for the ships that would be silent for him. Looking for the hint of a familiar lion in the clouds. 

Nothing appeared.

Hunk picked his way around blackened rocks and misplaced stones. The ground had been pocked with new holes and dents. The bombs had changed the landscape, making it look different. But he couldn't be far, he hadn't run that much in his escape attempt. He just needed to-

Hunk's footing on his good leg slipped on loose rocks. He was sliding down before he could catch himself. He rolled and he was pretty sure he screamed when his bad leg took a hit.

He came to a slow stop and lay there panting, trying to get a hold of himself. 

You're okay, you're okay.

Hunk felt tears in his eyes and he let out a loud huff of air. Crying wasn't going to help.

He shut his eyes tight and carefully wiped at his face, clearing away the tears. When he opened his eyes again, his vision was blocked by a large scaly face. 

Hunk gasped, but he didn't move. The mother must have followed him out and he'd been too worried about Galra ships to notice. She inhaled deeply and then snorted out a gust of air as if Hunk smelled bad.

Which he probably did, but he didn't have the time to worry about that kind of thing. 

Gently, she pressed her closed mouth against his forehead and Hunk felt a strong sense of pity fill his mind. Another breath of air and then she was pressing his arm, batting at him with her snout.

Stand.

Hunk blinked in surprise. It reminded him of when Yellow would connect with him. Hunk allowed himself to be bullied into a sitting position. 

There was more head butting and Hunk was forced to stand. He leaned heavily on the lizard's back and she stood up straighter, supporting him more. So she was smart and to her, Hunk probably seemed like some large, bumbling child that couldn't even walk right. "Thank you," Hunk forced out. It was weird and he didn't know if she really understood, but he had to try.

Walking together, they moved down the mountain.

The bombs had thrown the landscape into chaos. Once they reached level ground, Hunk had hoped it would be easy to find the cave, find the helmet, contact his team, but it was looking impossible.

He sighed and hoped his lizard mom wasn't too annoyed with him. She walked along with him, like a mother would walk her toddler through a park as though she was just humoring him. 

However, even with her help, he couldn't keep going, he could feel his last bit of energy draining, his adrenaline was completely gone. 

He just needed to take a break, find a place to sit-

That rock looked familiar.

Hunk cautiously approached the mess of stones. If that rock there was lifted up, it would have looked like his cave. Hunk swallowed down his hope, trying to avoid the disheartening disappointment that would come. 

He collapsed on the ground and began digging through stones and dirt. If this was the cave, it had collapsed in on itself, but he could still get to the helmet, if he could just clear away the debris… Hunk was suddenly shoved to the side. 

The lizard shot him a look and then she began digging, faster and more efficiently than Hunk ever could. Again, he felt like he was being humored. 

Enough rocks were cleared away and Hunk could see through to the pocket of darkness. He leaned in close and saw something glint in the dimming light. 

"There!" He gasped out and reached his arm in. The lizard stopped her digging and seemed to wait for Hunk. It took a few grabs, but eventually his hand met something solid and smooth. He saw the familiar blue of Lance's helmet and he could have wept with joy.

It looked like it was still working and he was sure his team had found a way by now to communicate, so he just needed to call...

Hunk slowly brought a hand up to his ear, realizing he had been so stupid. He wouldn't be able to hear them. How were they supposed to talk? If they couldn't track him, how would they find him? Was he supposed to just describe where he was? He didn’t know where he was, everything looked like the same ruined chaos, there weren't any noticeable landmarks.

He could maybe make something, route something, make words appear on the visor, but he didn't have the right equipment.

Fix it. Find a way.

Hunk felt a sob building in his chest, but he couldn't cry about it. He needed to do something. 

Hunk gingerly pulled the helmet over his head, he hissed as it came in contact with his cuts and bruises and his stupid, worthless ears. 

He tried for a hello, but he was pretty sure all that came out was a gasp. 

Pull it together.

Hunk concentrated on the others. The comlink had always worked on an almost subconscious level. All Hunk had to do was think about it and as long as the connection was good, he could talk to any of them all at once or just one at a time.

His thoughts were scattering as he tried to focus on the team. 

Please hear me.

"I'm here. I'm here." Hunk sucked in a breath, it shuddered at the end. He looked up through watering eyes and saw the lizard giving him a curious look.

"Please."

Not good enough.

"I'm where Lance left me. I don't know where. I can't hear anything, there was an explosion. I'm sorry-"

Hunk sniffled loudly. Probably much louder than he thought he did. 

This is too hard.

"I hope you're okay, Lance. I'm so sorry if you're hurt. I'm sorry."

Despite his best efforts, Hunk had dissolved into tears. Even though he couldn't hear anything he hoped they were there, even if it meant that he was blubbering into the coms and his breakdown was being broadcast to the castle too. 

He kept talking, but it became difficult to keep track of what he was saying. He was so tired and numb.

"Please don't leave me here, okay?" It was selfish. He had no idea if his friends were okay, he didn't know if they were still fighting. And here he was begging and crying like a baby.

Hunk buried his face in his hands and tried to get a hold of his breathing. He jumped when a reptilian face bumped his arm.

"Hey, lizard mama," Hunk whispered. She looked unimpressed with his emotional outburst, but she slowly wrapped around his huddled form and settled in the dirt. Hunk felt that wave of pity again and he choked. 

"Sorry."

Hunk felt a slight vibration from her side and he wondered if she was making some kind of sound for him.

Hunk cried harder.

Hunk had stopped speaking a long time ago. Even the sobbing had tapered off. As much as the silence worried Shiro, the crying had been worse. They had still been fighting when Hunk's voice first came through and the resulting chaos was very dangerous. Lance had already been flagging during the fight, his injuries catching up to him, but as soon as Hunk started talking to him, Lance had become borderline hysterical. 

They couldn't get to Hunk. They didn't have a clear path. So their battle continued with Hunk crying as background noise.

 Lance never stopped trying to talk to his friend. Even when it was obvious that Hunk couldn't hear them. 

Shiro felt guilt and pain twist up in his chest. He'd had to make the call to evacuate Lance and leave Hunk. Coran had reported the explosions, had told him the moment when Hunk's vitals stopped. It could have been a suit malfunction, but looking at the blown apart land below him, it didn’t seem likely. Shiro had accepted it. 

He had accepted it quickly. There wasn't time and Pidge was hurt and Keith was fighting alone. Shiro thought he was going to be sick when Hunk apologized into the coms.

He had to keep it together, Lance was fighting sporadically, Keith was running out of steam. Just a few more ships and they could clear the way.

"Hunk, it's going to be okay. We're going to be there soon..." Lance was pulling in shaky breaths, fighting hard not to fall to pieces. "I'm so sorry, Hunk." Lance was crying again.

Shiro grit his teeth. He aimed at a nearby Galra fighter. They were ending this now.

When the lions touched down on the planet, Hunk wasn't conscious. Shiro and Lance had landed while Keith kept the sky above them clear. 

They both came running out of their lions, but were surprised to find a large lizard wrapped around their teammate who was lying still on the ground.

"What is that?" Shiro shot his arm out and caught Lance in the chest, keeping him from running forward.

"Shiro!" Lance protested.

"Hang on, Lance. That thing is huge."

The lizard had moved at their approach and was stretching up on its legs, standing tall. 

"Coran, there's a dinosaur thing with Hunk!" Lance shouted into his com. 

"A what?" Coran sounded concerned by the description.

"It's a large reptile, like a big, brown lizard." Shiro really hoped that all translated accurately. 

"Oh! Sounds like a balfos. They're very smart."

"Is it dangerous?"

"I would approach with caution, but it should be able to sense that you mean no harm. They can understand things like that."

Lance walked as slowly as his anxious feet would let him. 

"Hey, hey there, balfos." Lance put his hands out. "That's my friend, mind if we take him?"

Shiro was approaching a step behind, he was watching carefully, he noticed that Lance was shaking. Shiro wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion, stress or pain. Could be all three.

The creature glared at them. 

Lance was only a few feet away now. 

"Please?" Desperation filled his voice as Lance slipped down to his knees. "Please can we? It's important. He's hurt and I- I took too long to get back to him."

The balfos uncoiled a long tail from around Hunk's form. It stepped forward and came within a foot of Lance's face.

Lance could feel the warm breath on his skin. There was a sound like a low, deep chortle. 

"Lance..." Shiro warned, he still couldn't tell if this thing was actually safe and Lance was kneeling so close. Shiro wouldn’t be able to protect him.

"It's okay," Lance whispered. "I'm okay." 

Lance felt calm. There was a kind of warmth that filled him up and he felt like he was being given someone's trust. 

It reminded him a little of his quiet conversations with Blue. 

The feeling was gone as the balfos turned and sped away, back up the craggy mountainside. 

Lance took a deep breath and then was scrabbling forward. He collided with Hunk with a broken hearted desperation. Apologies were flowing out of his mouth as he tried to check for a pulse. Hunk's eyes blinked opened and he gazed blearily up at Lance. 

"Hey, Hunk, hey," Lance breathed out.

Hunk let out a deep sigh before falling back into unconsciousness.

The first thing Hunk became aware of was a deep coldness in his bones. He exhaled and he was surprised at how distant the action felt. He blinked his eyes open and saw the concerned faces of his team staring. They looked like they were all holding their breath. Why did they look so freaked out? Hunk shut his eyes, tried to orientate himself.  

He was coming out of a pod. 

Oh. 

Right, the planet.

Hunk's breath caught. His heartbeat thudded in his throat. He could hear the shuffling of the others and the deep hum of the ship that was always there. Or maybe he was imagining it. Maybe he only heard those things because he knew they were supposed to be there. Maybe his hearing was damaged too badly or for too long.

"Someone say something," he gasped out. He could hear his own voice and that should have put him at ease, but he needed to be sure.

Lance darted forward and was wrapping him in a hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Lance gasped out. Hunk was so grateful that he could actually hear the exclamation that he didn't process Lance's words.

"I'm really glad you're okay," Hunk said as he returned the hug. 

Lance started crying. 

Pidge moved forward and found a place at their sides. She clung to their arms and breathed a sigh of relief. Hunk put an arm around her shoulders and pressed her to his side.

"How do you feel, Hunk?" Shiro asked from his place across the room. 

"Good, I mean, tired, but good." He caught Shiro's eye and gave him a smile. Shiro pointedly looked away.

"I'm glad." Shiro sounded like he was choking on something. "You'll probably need to eat, listen to Coran." Shiro was already moving out of the room. "Excuse me." 

It was strangely quiet after he left. There was a tenseness in the room. Pidge started to move away, as if she might follow their leader, but Keith shook his head. 

"Give him time," Keith warned. 

"What happened?" Hunk's voice was too loud, but he couldn't help it. He needed to hear it. Lance was wiping tear tracks from his face and he just shook his head instead of answering.

"Don’t worry about it," Pidge said quietly.

"Right!" Coran clapped his hands, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "Food and rest! I think we all deserve it!" He declared.

Hunk smiled slowly. There wouldn't be any argument from him.

"Hydrogen, helium, lithium..."

"Can we do something else?" Lance whined.

Pidge groaned. "We're supposed to be sleeping, we can't just stay up talking. We all need the rest."

Lance pulled a pillow over his face and groaned loudly. The three of them were all settled into Hunk's room for a sleepover. They had been camping out there for the past few days. All three of them had spent time in the pods and Coran had ordered them to take it easy. Especially Hunk, who had been the last one to finish healing.

Pidge had been the one to disable the tech that was jamming their coms, but her lion had taken a brutal beating and she had been knocked out. The Green lion had gotten her back to the castle, but she had been treated for a concussion. When she woke up, both of her friends were still in their own pods, healing. 

Pidge removed the pillow from Lance's face. "Coran will be disappointed if we don't sleep."

Lance sighed loudly. "But I'm not tired," he whined.

Hunk chuckled softly. He didn't mind staying up. He preferred it actually. Every night since he got out of the pod, he'd had a nightmare. They all had nightmares now, but Hunk’s had gotten particularly bad. Every night it was the same thing. He dreamed about explosions and silence. Of crying and calling out for help. And every night Pidge and Lance were there, huddled close telling him it would be okay. Eventually, he would fall back to sleep, insisting that Pidge play music or talk the whole time. She would recite the elements in order of atomic number. Something simple and dull that Hunk could drift off to. He couldn't relax in the silence now. He needed the noise.

Then the morning would come and they would act like nothing happened, until the next night and they would all gather in Hunk's room for company and quiet conversations. 

"I'm hungry," Lance announced. "Do we still have snacks?"

"We're out," Pidge rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep, Lance."

"I can go grab something from the kitchen." Hunk rolled and stood up from his bed.

"Oh, I can go with." Lance sat up from his mattress. Lance had been very clingy lately and while Hunk didn't mind it, he wanted his friend to know that it was okay for them to be apart. They were safe. Nothing bad was going to happen while they were aboard the ship.

"No, I got this. Stay here. Think of a game or something we can play when I get back." Hunk was already moving out the door before Lance could protest. 

It was okay. Lance needed to know that he wasn't going to just disappear if they separated. 

Hunk's heart sped up as he walked down the quiet hallway, the sound of his footsteps muffled by his slippers. 

Maybe Hunk needed to know that it was going to be okay too.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, listening closely to the slight whistle it made as air moved past his teeth. 

Once he made it to the kitchen, Hunk got out a large plate and went to the cabinet that he stored his most recent baked goods in. He'd been baking a lot the last few days. He found comfort in the work. It had always helped him feel less stressed in the past. He had stuffed the cabinet with assorted cookies and treats. There was really too much for their small group, but Hunk couldn’t stop. He was just setting out a few cookies for the mice, because they always raided the kitchen throughout the night, when he heard footsteps enter the room.

"Lance, I'm fine." Hunk turned, ready to try to convince his friend of his wellbeing, but was startled to see Shiro there. 

"Shiro, hey. Can't sleep?"

"I was going for a walk.” Shiro shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Okay. Did you want something? I've got a lot here." Hunk motioned to the plate and the opened cabinet. 

"No, I'm alright. I just- I was hoping that I could have a word with you. If that's okay?"

"Yeah." Hunk placed his palms down on the table and leaned forward, listening intently.

"I didn't apologize before. I wanted to apologize. For what happened." Shiro wasn’t looking at him.

"For what happened," Hunk repeated. 

"I- maybe Lance didn't tell you- I'm sorry. Look, the fight before, it was pretty bad. The bombs fell and you just... your vitals stopped." Shiro took in a sharp breath. Hunk had never seen him struggle so hard to speak. Shiro made a choking sound in his throat and he brought his hand to his face. 

"I left you, I made Lance leave you. I didn't know- I'm so sorry. I thought you were- I thought..."

That was when Hunk realized how exhausted Shiro looked. Exhausted and broken and so guilty. 

"You thought I'd died."

Shiro's eyes widened and he nodded. He cleared his throat, but he couldn't find the right words.

"I'm so sorry," he finally managed. 

"Shiro, it's okay. You were trying to take care of everyone. I don't blame you."

"Lance does and he should."

"Lance is just scared. Shiro, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?” Shiro shook his head. “You don't have any reason to be sorry. It was my call to leave. To get Lance out and not look for you. I left you there." Shiro shut his eyes. He was trying so hard not to cry. He didn't deserve to be upset. He needed to get a grip. A leader had to make these decisions. He couldn't fall apart when they had a close call like this. It was just going to keep happening. This was a war after all. But he just kept remembering back to it. Pidge hurt, Hunk's vitals stopping, dragging Lance away while he cried. It had all happened so fast. 

It was a miracle they had survived. In the end he couldn't do anything to save them.

There were hands on Shiro's arms and he jumped at the contact. 

"I'm just sorry you had to make a choice like that. I don't blame you. I really don't."

It wasn't a hug exactly, but Hunk was trying to keep Shiro grounded. He had a firm grasp on his elbows, if anything, letting him know that they were both still here. 

He had seen Shiro snap a few times, he'd seen him fall apart a little bit, but if he could keep Shiro from spiraling down this time, then he would do it.  

"Are you okay?" Hunk asked after a moment. Shiro let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob, but he nodded. 

Hunk was about to say something else when he picked up the sound of movement in the hallway. He looked behind Shiro to see a familiar face peering from behind the door frame.

Lance ducked back out of sight and Hunk could hear a whispered scolding from Pidge. Shiro had caught on to their presence too and he sighed. He tapped Hunk's arms, letting him know he was okay and Hunk could let go now. 

"Alright, guys. Help me carry these cookies back," Hunk called. Lance and Pidge stumbled into the room. Pidge elbowed Lance in his side. 

"Told you he would hear us." She scolded. Hunk blinked as a third person walked in after them. He hadn’t known that Keith was there. 

"You're both too loud," Keith complained.

"Keith," Shiro sighed. "I told you I was fine."

“I know that’s what you said,” Keith replied.

Hunk almost laughed as he imagined Keith trailing Shiro in the middle of the night and running into Pidge and Lance who were also trailing someone. 

They all cared so much. 

"Sorry," Lance mumbled, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Lance knew it sounded childish. Hunk had just gone to the kitchen, he shouldn't feel this anxious just because his friend had left the room.

"It's okay. Carry these for me?" Hunk handed the plate of cookies off and then turned to Keith and Shiro. "So I guess we're going to be up for a while. Do you two want to join us? Lance can usually think of some weird word games."

Shiro looked unsure, but he caught Keith's eye, who looked even more uncertain of the idea. 

"Yeah, we'll go." Shiro patted Keith's arm. "It'll be fun."

Hunk grabbed another plate for more cookies. He made sure to grab extra of the ginger snaps that Keith had taken a liking to. 

The rest of the night passed by with a series of games, some were made up and some were based on sleepover games from home. They were asking each other a series of ridiculous questions that all began with ‘Would you rather…’ but Lance had gotten into an argument with Keith over whether or not he would rather wear a suit made of meat while walking through a lion infested jungle or a suit made of money in a bad part of town?

"How would I have a suit of money or meat? A meat suit? What does that even mean?" Keith wasn't quite getting the concept.

"It's a game!" Lance insisted. Hunk and Pidge had dissolved into giggles that could only result from ludicrous games and sleep deprivation. None of this would probably be funny in the morning when they had to wake up for training and explain it all to Allura. 

But for now, they were together and they were okay. It was enough.

Their laughter was interrupted by a loud snore and Lance burst into giggles when they realized Shiro had passed out on Hunk's bed. 

They all knew he must be tired if he could fall asleep with everyone in the room. Shiro was usually pretty guarded when it came to sleeping in front of others. 

"We should stop." Hunk was now whispering, though Shiro could probably sleep through anything at this point. 

"Guess you're right," Lance grumbled. They all started to settle down and Hunk handed some blankets to Keith, convincing him to stay. 

They didn't all fit on the two mattresses that had been dragged in, but they put enough blankets on the floor that it wasn't a problem if someone slipped off. 

Squished in the middle of his friends, Hunk listened to their quiet breathing. He strained his ears to hear it. They were all here. They were all okay. 

Still...

"Pidge..." Hunk whispered in the dark. She took in a soft breath. Hunk felt her hand land gently on his shoulder.

"Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon..."

Lance grumbled a bit under his breath, but he didn't interrupt her. 

“..nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine…”

Hunk smiled and shut his eyes. The steady voice filled his ears and he let the sound guide him towards sleep. 

There were no nightmares that night.